A comparative evaluation of educational programmes at zoological institutions in three countries

Abstract

The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the Conservation Education programmes of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (NZG) in Pretoria, South Africa, the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) in Entebbe, Uganda and Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, in order to devise a Model for an effective zoo Conservation Education Programme. A mixed-methods strategy, namely concurrent triangulation, was used for data-collection. The quantitative method was that of surveys by means of group-administered questionnaires. The population for the quantitative study was school groups that visited the zoos. The qualitative research questions were addressed by means of individual semi-structured interviews. Interpretive analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The participants of the qualitative study were staff members at the zoos and other key figures in the zoo – and conservation sector. The impact of Conservation Education programmes of the zoos were evaluated by means of a logic model. The quantitative results indicated that the Conservation Education programmes were successful in increasing the knowledge of the learners and in increasing their intention to change behaviour. This study further indicated that, although attending zoo Conservation Education programmes has the potential to increase the attitudes and values of learners, this was not always the case. Furthermore, the results show that when learners tested high with regard to their knowledge, attitudes and values prior to attending a Conservation Education programme, their knowledge, attitudes and values will not change significantly after they attended a Conservation Education programme. Furthermore, the results of the qualitative study indicated that the evaluation of Conservation Education programmes and the training of zoo educators should receive more attention to ensure the success of these programmes. It can be concluded that the role of zoos have become even more important to conserve biodiversity through their Conservation Education programmes.